Disneyland

Matterhorn Bobsleds

June 1959

The Matterhorn is the largest and most obvious of Disneyland's five mountains (the Matterhorn, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Michael Eisner's salary). It contains a thrilling roller coaster ride, and a number of secrets, namely:

The animatronic abominable snowman is modeled after the real snowman that ate explorer Benjamin Hilarry in 1926.

There is a secret room near the top of the mountain that Disney plans to eventually use as living space for a basketball team.

The mountain used for this attraction was originally located in Washington State. It was moved to Disneyland in thousands of pieces, each one numbered for easy reassembly.

If you look at a map of Disneyland from before 1971, you will notice that the Matterhorn is listed as part of Tomorrowland. It was moved largely for reasons of theme and marketing organization. Because the Matterhorn is so close to the border between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, the mountain had to be moved less than a foot to make the transfer official.

For its 50th anniversary, Disney demolition experts will implode the Matterhorn as part of an enormous pyrotechnic spectacular. It is planned that Tinker Bell will fly from the mountain to the castle just in time to avoid having her backside fried. If there is sufficient interest, Disney may make this a nightly event.

Trivia: If the submarine lagoon is ever drained, the Matterhorn will fall over.